I have a very strong emotional attachment to many of the releases listed below. Choosing this list was exceptionally tough; I’ve been fortunate to discover some incredible bands and artists over the past year, and it’s safe to say that outside this list lie a great many immense tunes that can be found via a quick browse through TMMP’s archives when you’re done with this lot. However, the following choices are the cream of the crop. Read more…

Although I’m a huge fan of Project RnL, and TMMP is all about negating musical boundaries, my first reaction to Expiration Date was something along the lines of “Just what the hell is this?!”Read more…

Imagine where we’d be without experiments. Without theories, tests, trials and errors. Without curiosity and creativity. The world would be a dull place indeed. Just imagine how many scientific discoveries and artistic “eureka!” moments would have been missed.

Now listen to this track. Thanks to the efforts of creative people the world over, we get to have experiences like this. How awesome is that?! Read more…

Sometimes a little research goes a long way. I first discovered Key Of The Moment while researching TMMP’s Guide to Project RnL, a near-exhaustive look at one of the prog scene’s most promising up-and-coming acts. Featuring the guitaristic talents of RnL’s Alon Tamir alongside a cast of brilliant instrumentalists, The Switch presents the kind of turbulent melodic metal that takes me back to my days as an avid Nightwish fan. Read more…

The word ‘epic’ gets tossed around a lot these days, and I’m as guilty as anyone else of overusing it. But what other words could most effectively be used to describe this track? Intense? Sure. Badass? Certainly. But to my mind, all alternatives to ‘epic’ pale in comparison. Perhaps the best course of action is to stick all of the above together, brush aside that writerly aversion to adverbs and state that this track is intensely, epically badass. Read more…

Project RnL. Remember that name in 2014. Originally formed in 2010, it didn’t take long for this prog-pop juggernaut to rev its engines loudly enough to be heard by Dream Theater – the band still sitting prettily at the very top of the prog scene’s naturally complex hierarchy – and begin collaborating with DT keyboardist Jordan Rudess. That’s an impressive achievement, by anyone’s standards.